Robinson Cano’s Reviewed Double Puts Yankees Up 2-1

Coming into the bottom of the fifth, Doug Fister had retired nine Yankees in a row, and five of them by strikeout. Thankfully for New York, Ivan Nova was putting up zeroes himself and the score was still 1-1, but the Yankees knew they'd need to get on the board.

They did just that in the bottom of the fifth. And they did it despite the first two batters hitting into outs. With two down, Curtis Granderson lined a base hit into right. Innocent enough. But then Robinson Cano came up and he blasted an outside fastball deep to left-center field. It hit off the very top of the wall and bounced back into play, and by the time Delmon Young returned the ball to the infield, Granderson had scored, and Cano was standing on second base with an RBI double.

Because the ball hit the top of the wall (without any fan interference!), the umpires reviewed the play to see if Cano deserved a home run. The call on the field was upheld, though, so in a sense the play was good for both teams. The Yankees were pleased that they had the lead, and the Tigers were pleased that Cano's ball didn't sail another few inches.

Fister pitched through Alex Rodriguez to limit the damage, but still New York got out in front. And now the Tigers have just nine outs left, because Ivan Nova followed with a scoreless sixth. He walked Austin Jackson to lead off, but when Jackson subsequently took off for second base, Magglio Ordonez bounced a grounder right back up the middle, where a covering Cano was in perfect position to start a 4-3 double play. Delmon Young then flew out.